Beyond The Stars (Naruto Fanfiction)

Chapter 20 ~Written Exam

Media is how I imagine Kritanta Astara

He explained the rules and guidelines of the test. It was clear as daylight that he was trying to deceive us, the whole point is to cheat. We pulled numbers and were sat accordingly in the testing room.

Twenty or so chunins were lined against the wall. I was seated next to the Nara kid, and some genin from the sound.

Uchiha should figure out what this test is about pretty quickly. I was handed a test from Nara and passed the stack along the row. The questions were reasonable for me, more of a chunin level.

Haruno's brain is quite useful, she could most likely handle this even without cheating. Then there's Naruto, his intelligence isn't impressive, nor is his deception. I doubt the actual questions count, most likely just the ability to see through deception.

It all came down to the tenth question, what the hell could it be. Sitting and racking my brain wasn't going to help, usually training would calm my thoughts. Kabuto was also fresh in my mind, along with the chakra signature from earlier.

"Begin." I snapped open my eyes, that I hadn't realised closed. Should I cheat, or wait it out. If I cheated I know I wouldn't get caught, however it would drain some of my chakra. I might need it later in the exams, seeing as how we don't know what would be happening after the written portion.

I came upon the expert decision on sleeping through the entire thing. I leaned my head down onto the desk, the sound of pencils against the wood amplifying.

The tapping becoming more distant as I let my eyes close.

"Time is up! Time for the final question!" I shot up, hitting my head on the row behind me. I grabbed my head and faced the proctor. I heard a stifled laugh from the Nara besides me. I shot him a rather intimidating glare.

"This question could make or break your career. Take the question and you fail you lose your chance to ever become a chunin. Don't take the question you fail, however you can retry next exam." I started off as I tried to figure out the meaning behind the question. Then Temari stood up, rage clear on her face. "What was the point of the rest of the exam if you just quit."

Will, that was the answer. You have to have a strong will and knowledge of what your getting into. "That is for you to know, not I."

He avoided the question while giving hints on what the test was. Knowing the blonde I doubt she would have figured that out. Her pride is what is keeping her from quitting. "Those who wish to leave may leave."

They started dropping like flies. To me this was a good idea, if they kept falling our success rate should skyrocket. I noticed that Naruto was shaking, was he going to quit? If he quit that means our entire squad would fall out.

His hand raised slightly, but shocked everyone as he slammed it on the desk. "I don't care if I can't take this stupid test again! I will become hokage one day and everyone will respect me as the most powerful shinobi, believe it!"

I internally smiled, never would I show it on the outside. He's clueless, but his determination drives him. Something not most shinobi have. I stood up and looked at Ibiki Morino. "It doesn't matter if we can't take this test. Field promotions are still an option, am I right?"

"Yes you are." A smirk spread across his face, that just proves what I thought was right. There is not real tenth question. People stopped freaking out and handled the situation rationally. Seems Naruto's outburst inspired the lot of people.

"Anybody want to quit? This is your last chance." He scanned over the room, he took off his headband. It revealed a scarred scalp, mostly burns and cuts. "This is what happens on true missions. Every ninja has scars, stories to tell. In the end you all decided to stay when you knew what the conditions were. You showed that you can stick through any mission to the end, no matter the cost. Kritanta, correct me if I'm wrong,"

I stayed silent, giving a silent nod. "Found a bright side in the cutthroat question being a shinobi is. In the end, you all pass."

"Your ninja carers has only just started mo-" Everyone's attention turned to the now broken window. A women, easily a jonin broke in. "Listen up maggots! I'm your next proctor Mitarashi Anko!"

She scanned over the sea of participating genins. "82 students, Ibiki you've grown soft. You let 27 teams pass. Your testing will only grow harder and more harsh from here on out! Meet at the forest of death in twenty minutes!"

I have seen her before, her blood is filed in one of Orochimaru's hideouts. I don't exactly know the purpose, so she might have a connection to the snake somehow. I let a breath I had been holding exhale as I rose to me feet.

Forest of death, I don't remember reading about it, have I read about it? I have gathered as much intel on the leaf as possible, much to the snake's disapproval.

"Kri- Chan that was really smart on your field thingy!" Naruto gushed in the crowd of people. "Your speech wasn't too bad either."

I had now realized something, I didn't do anything on the test. I ran to my seat and added a quick note to the side of the paper.

I caught up to my group as I made my way to the grounds with the rest of team 7. What has death got in store for us?

~~

I walked around the room, picking up the tests. I came across a blank one, only containing a name. "Uzumaki Naruto, you are the first person who passed with a blank test."

I continued on collecting the papers. The sand shinobi's answers weren't far off from the answers nor was Sakura Haruno's.

I came across the second to last row, another paper with nearly nothing written. A small messy note was written along the edges of the paper. I read the note aloud. "Decided to take a nap, your test was too predictable and far too many loopholes. Maybe next time, however I don't plan on losing this year. With no regards, Kritanta Astara."

Now that is a first, someone figured out the point behind the test and sleep the entire way through. That last name, Astara, where have I heard it before?